Financials continue their struggle. Investors lost their confidence in Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae even as government tries to back up. The economic weather is volatile, are you still in the mode of buying Guru bargains: Wells Fargo & Company (WFC), USG Corp. (USG), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), WellPoint Inc. (WLP), J. Crew Group Inc. (JCG).

Wells Fargo & Company (WFC): Down 21% Since Ron Baron Bought In the First Quarter of 2008

Bank operator Wells Fargo & Company slimmed down their first quarter earnings from $0.66 per share in 2007 to $2 billion $0.60 per share in 2008, despite a $2 billion pre-tax provision for losses. By the end of 2008, Wells Fargo & Co plans to fully acquire Farmers State Bank of Fort Morgan in Colorado, which has $145 million in assets and $116 million in cash deposits. Last Thursday, the National Association of Realtors reported that the nation’s pending home sales declined 4.7%, although the number of new mortgage applications rose 7.5% in the first week of July. As of last week, home mortgage rates for 30-year-fixed is 6.43%, 15-year-fixed is 5.94%, and 1-year-ARMs is 7.24%.

Wells Fargo & Company has a market cap of $75.96 billion; its shares were traded at around $20.5 with a P/E ratio of 9.89 and P/S ratio of 2.28. The dividend yield of Wells Fargo & Company stocks is 5.18%.

USG Corp. (USG): Down 29% Since George Soros Bought In the First Quarter of 2008

USG Corporation (USG) lost $45 million or $0.45 per share for the first quarter of 2008, compared to a profit of $41 million or $0.45 per share for 2007. Revenue dropped to $1.17 billion from $1.26 billion. The drywall and construction product company reassured investors, “Housing market continues to be challenging; new residential construction has shown signs of stabilizing.”

USG Corp. has a market cap of $2.42 billion; its shares were traded at around $24.39 with P/S ratio of 0.51.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM): Down 21% Since John Keeley Bought In the First Quarter of 2008

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) trimmed their quarterly profits by 49% to $2.4 billion or $0.68 per share, compared to $4.8 billion or $1.34 per share. The financial service company added $2.5 billion to their provisions for losses in the first quarter; currently, JP Morgan’s allowance for credit losses total $12.6 billion. Revenue also declined by 52% to $3.0 billion from $6.2 billion in the prior year.

John Keeley upped his JPMorgan holdings by 60% to 133,700 shares; he bought his shares at an average price of $41.80.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a market cap of $113.63 billion; its shares were traded at around $31.02 with a P/E ratio of 8.94 and P/S ratio of 2.00. The dividend yield of JPMorgan Chase & Co. stocks is 4.3%.

The shares of health insurer, like WellPoint, Inc. (WLP), decreased last week, after a new Medicare bill was passed. The bill ultimately lowers payments to most medical insurers by $13.5 billion. In May, WellPoint won a 5-year-$324 million contract to administer Medicare & Medicaid services in New York and Connecticut. The company’s first quarter profits fell 25% to $588.1 million or $1.07 per share, on high medical and debt costs. WellPoint earned $783.1 million or $1.26 per share in the same period a year ago. In addition, revenue rose 3% to $15.5 million for the quarter.

WellPoint Inc. has a market cap of $23.61 billion; its shares were traded at around $44.4 with a P/E ratio of 8.31 and P/S ratio of 0.39.

J. Crew Group Inc. (JCG): Down 33% Since George Soros Bought In the First Quarter of 2008

Apparel retailer, J. Crew Group, Inc. (JCG) lowered their 2008 earnings outlook to $1.70 to $1.75 per share from $1.85 to $1.87, due to slow summer sales. The company’s first quarter increased 24% to $30.5 million or $0.48 per share compared to $24.6 million or $0.39 per share. J. Crew Group’s revenue also rose 15% to $340.6 million.

George Soros purchased a total of 17,103 shares around $39.96 to $46.86. Ron Baron owns 5,879,800 shares as of 3/31/08.

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